Located along the northern bank of the Pasig River, not far from the bustling and often “chaotic” atmosphere of downtown is the community characterized in contrast by a low-key and more “quiet” atmosphere. An unassuming personality of its own, one would not realize at first how important this part of the city is not only in the city’s but also in the country’s geopolitical landscape. This is the district of San Miguel, more known to many as the place where Malacañang is located, AKA the residence of the country’s president. While this community being the site of Malacañang has somehow helped in keeping its distinct overall character, it also serves…
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that brewery named after a saint and a suburb
It was September 29, 1890, which happened to be the feast of St. Michael and the rest of the Archangels, when a fellow named Enrique Barretto y Ycaza opened up a brewery in the Manila suburb named after the aforementioned saint. With a royal grant from Spain, Enrique decided to name the brewery after that suburb where he has lived and worked. So began the history of Fabrica Cerveza de San Miguel, the brewery which would become the San Miguel Corporation we would know today. The document which bore that royal grant had the old seal of Manila insigned with a crown above it. Seeing the significance of this seal,…
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The church and the community of the archangel-soldier
The late 16th-early 17th centuries which marked the beginnings of Spanish rule in the Philippines, in Manila in particular, also marked the influx of migrants to this newly-Christianized city. Most of these migrants are Japanese refugees fleeing from the persecution of Christians by Japan’s shogun government. (who eventually closed the country from foreign contact) They eventually settled in what is now the area of San Marcelino in northern Ermita. To meet the needs of this new community, the Spanish Jesuits decided to erect a parish for them. By 1611, the church was finished and the parish established, dedicated to the archangel-soldier St. Michael or San Miguel. It has been said…
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a classic dining ambience experience in the city
Can you imagine yourself having dinner in a centuries-old house which has preserved and dining in the midst of its furniture and other household items still intact in their old state? We get to read and hear places like these in travel shows and books that deal with places outside the country. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a dining place like this here in our country, in a city such as Manila to be precise, where much of its old heritage have either disappeared or left to neglect. It’s one of those (somewhat) best kept secrets in Manila’s San Miguel district, the place where some of the old…